Freedom at Last!
by irishwerewolves
Summary: Martha Black starting at Hogwarts but Voldemort attacks. Can she and her friends survive? Story based on what happens at Hogwarts in the 7th Harry Potter book Deathly Hallows , so please read that first. R&R's would be helpful. Rated T for safety. Enjoy!
1. Difficulty With Friends

**Freedom at last!**

_Chapter 1: Difficulty with Friends_

15 year old Martha Black was about to start her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but was trying to deal with the fact that so many people had died since the darkest and most feared wizard in the world, Lord Voldemort, had regained power and strength three years ago, and was now approaching his maximum power. Martha had very nearly lost her father to Voldemort's hands two years ago, had lost one of her best friends, Adelyne Marlo, to Voldemort's hands the previous year, and her boyfriend, Dean Ethene, had lost his entire family to Voldemort's hands the previous year, shortly after Adelyne's death. What had made matters worse, however, was the fact that Martha and Dean now had a daughter who was approaching her first birthday. They'd named their daughter Adelyne, after Martha's deceased friend, but as soon as Adelyne had been born, Voldemort seemed to turn his sights to her. So Martha and her family had to go into hiding, so improved the security on their home, by replacing the Fidelius charm, which was beginning to wear off.

"Martha?" her boyfriend's voice asked her timidly. Martha looked up and hugged him tightly. "Are you alright?" he asked, hugging her in return.

"I'm fine. I'll live. I was just thinking about Adelyne and how Voldemort seems to want to try and kill her. But why do you think he wants to kill her?" she asked him softly.

"Martha, I don't know why he wants to kill her, but we can't dwell on that right now. We have to think positive if we're going to deal with it." He replied, kissing her briefly, when a yell was suddenly heard, followed by screaming. Martha and Dean looked up and ran down the stairs at top speed, stopping only in the lounge room. A horrifying scene met them in the lounge; Lord Voldemort was standing there, his wand pointed at Martha's parents and best friend, Lannastar Potter. Martha and Dean both whipped out their wands and pointed them at him, but Martha suddenly realised that she had Adelyne in her arms.

"Dean, I want you to take Adelyne back upstairs; I'll hold Voldemort off. Hurry!" she whispered, handing her daughter to Dean, who ran back upstairs. Martha looked up, only then realising that Voldemort was standing over her.

"Trying to let my prey get away, are you?" he asked her dangerously in a whisper.

"You're not going to touch my daughter, Voldemort! You're not going to touch any of us!" she shouted but Voldemort only laughed.

"Too late," he said, laughing. "Look behind me."

Martha looked around him and realised that Lannastar's tall, thin form was lying limp on the floor, Martha's mother, Natalie, kneeling over her. Sirius was tied up against the wall, struggling against his bonds.

"What did you do to them, Voldemort?" she asked him quietly, glaring at him.

"Nothing that you should worry about, considering you won't live long enough to worry." He replied simply. With that, Martha transformed into a werewolf, growling at the Dark Lord. "Good dog." He said, disapparating. Martha transformed back, looking at the place where Voldemort had disappeared.

"Dean, get Adelyne down here now! We'll have to leave!" she shouted up the stairs and Dean soon appeared at the bottom of the stairs, Adelyne in his arms.

"What about the animals?" he asked her, referring to the dogs (Snuffles, Padfoot, Dolly, Silky, Rotty and Rover), the bats (Tiny and Rebel) and Lannastar's mouse (Minnie).

"They're obviously coming too, you idiot." She said, running over to her father and untying him before kneeling next to Lannastar's lifeless form. "Is she okay Mum?" she asked Natalie softly, and the latter hugged her.

"She'll live. She's only unconscious. Voldemort had thrown the table at her, so it's just lucky that your father had slowed it down before it hit her. If it had hit her at full speed, she'd be dead now." Natalie replied.

"Thank you Mum for looking after her. Do you think we should move out of the house and into someone else's house?" Martha asked her softly.

"Definitely. Pack your things. I'll pack Lannastar's things. Sirius!" she called her husband to her. "Get the dogs ready! We're leaving." She told him and he nodded, leaving the room.

"I'll get Dean to pack his things and grab Adelyne's stuff." Martha said and her mother nodded, leaving the room and walking upstairs.


	2. Moving House

_Chapter 2: Moving House_

Martha, her family, Lannastar and Dean arrived at their new destination three hours later, shortly after Lannastar regained consciousness. Their dogs were on leashes, Lannastar's mouse was in its cage, and Martha and Dean's bats were in their respective cages. All had their clothes and everything with them and were ready to start a new life.

Martha had managed to convince her parents to move in with her friend, Christina Wilson's family in their house. Arriving in front of Christina's house, they knocked and Christina's father, Julius Wilson opened the door and welcomed them inside. A sudden scream of happiness caught Martha and Lannastar's attention as Christina came sprinting into the lounge room and flung herself at the two stunned girls.

"Hey Martha! Hey Lannastar!" she screamed and Martha and Lannastar took one look at each other and shook their heads slowly.

"Yep. She's lost her mind." Lannastar commented, laughing.

"I totally agree, Lanna." Martha agreed with her friend, sighing.

"How's your daughter, Martha?" Christina asked her friend softly, indicating Adelyne.

"She's good. What about your son Christina?" Martha asked her in reply, meaning Christina's son, Julius (named after her father), who was biologically Voldemort's baby after the latter had raped her continually.

"He's all good. I don't think Voldemort has even realised he has a son yet, which is even better." Christina replied, suddenly serious.

"That's good, because he definitely knows about Adelyne. He's constantly trying to kill her." Martha replied, hugging her daughter. "We're hoping he wouldn't realise we'd moved house, so wouldn't know where to find her." She added and Christina nodded in understanding.

"Let's hope." Christina replied as she led her friends into the house. "Come, I'll show you to your room. You two will be sharing my room, while Dean gets to share Julian's room. Your parents get their own room and well, the rest is pretty obvious." She explained and Martha and Lannastar nodded.

"Okay. Where will Adelyne sleep? And where will the dogs stay?" Martha asked her friend curiously.

"Adelyne will sleep in our room, with Julius, and the dogs will stay outside. Are you okay with that?" Christina asked her.

"That's fine. We'll move our stuff into your room now." Martha replied and Christina led her to the bedroom at the end of the hall.

Christina's bedroom was a large room with a three beds placed neatly along the wall furthest from the door. On the walls were several moving posters (traditional to wizards) of the Irish Swallows Quidditch team and several pictures of her boyfriend, Seamus Finnigan.

"Ignore the pictures of Seamus. I couldn't help but put them there." Christina said softly, blushing slightly.

"That's okay, as long as I get to put pictures of Draco up there." Lannastar laughed, grinning slyly.

"Meh. Go for your life." Christina said, still laughing. "Anyway Martha, this is where Julius sleeps, and are you alright if Adelyne sleeps next to him; we just don't have enough room to put another cot." She added to Martha, who nodded.

"Do you mind if I have the bed in the middle?" Martha asked and Christina nodded. Martha thanked her, putting her school trunk at the end of the bed and leaving the room to try and find her boyfriend, who had their daughter with him. She found Dean in Christina's brother, Julian's bedroom, holding Adelyne in his arms.

"What's up, Martha?" he asked her, standing up.

"Dean, Adelyne's going to sleep in my room, if that's okay with you." Martha replied, taking her daughter from him.

"Okay, as long as I get to see her during the day." He said and Martha laughed, shaking her head slowly.

"Dean, you're her father, so it's a bit obvious you will." She replied, kissing him briefly. "I can't keep you from seeing your daughter."

"Okay then. I guess you can." He replied, sighing.

"Thank you. I'll see you two tomorrow morning." She laughed, taking Adelyne out of the room and back into Christina's room.

"Ah, she returns. How's Adelyne?" Christina laughed when Martha entered the room.

"She's good. I managed to convince Dean to let me take her here." Martha replied, laughing. Lannastar looked from her to Christina, back to her and laughed.

"You two are idiots." She laughed. Martha gently laid her sleeping daughter in the cot next to Christina's son and walked back to her friends.

"Actually, looking at the time, I think we should get some sleep, or we'll miss the train tomorrow." Christina said, still laughing. The other two girls looked at the clock on the wall above the door and agreed, closing the door to get changed into their pyjamas. When they opened the door again, they got into their beds and Christina used her wand to put out the light.


	3. The Beginning of Hogwarts School

_Chapter 3: The Beginning of Hogwarts School_

The next morning, Martha and her friends woke at nine am and went into the kitchen for breakfast, Adelyne in Martha's arms and Christina carrying the baby Julius.

"Good morning girls." Sirius greeted them when they entered the kitchen.

"Morning Dad." Martha replied, sitting down next to her father.

"Here Martha, here's a bottle to give her." Natalie sighed, walking to her daughter and giving her a bottle to feed to Adelyne.

"Thanks Mum." Martha smiled, feeding Adelyne with the bottle.

"So," Julius Sr. said to the girls and the boys that had just walked in and sat down. "Are you all ready to get to Hogwarts this year?" he asked them.

"We are. We packed before we left home." Martha said, indicating Dean and Lannastar.

"Dad, you should know that Julian and I are packed." Christina laughed.

"Good. We're going to leave at about ten thirty so you all have time to greet your other friends before getting on the train." He said and everyone in the kitchen laughed, except Adelyne and Julius Jr. who were still being fed.

"Martha, Christina, if you girls want, I can look after the kids while you're in classes. While I'm teaching, you'll have to trust Sirius to look after them." Natalie said and Martha and Christina looked at each other before nodding at her.

"Thank you Professor Talleo. We greatly appreciate it." Christina said, smiling at her, standing up and taking the bottle to the kitchen sink and putting it in, before walking back to the table and sitting back down, her son still in her arms all the way. Martha finished feeding her daughter and took the bottle to the sink and put it in, before walking to sit back down at the table.

It was quarter past ten that morning when Adelyne started crying and Martha checked her nappy, to realise that the baby needed a nappy change. She sighed, taking her daughter to the baby change table in the laundry, and changing her nappy. Suddenly, Dean appeared next to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked her and she smiled at him.

"I'm fine Dean. And so is Adelyne. She just needed a nappy change." Martha replied, smiling at her boyfriend.

"Martha, if you don't hurry up, we're going to miss the train. It's ten twenty-five. We'd best hurry if we're going to make it." He said and she nodded, finishing changing Adelyne's nappy and carrying the baby back out into the lounge room. Handing the baby to her mother, she ran into the bedroom and grabbed her trunk, dragging it back into the lounge.

"Okay, are you guys all ready?" Julius Sr. asked the teenagers, who all nodded. "Okay. Natalie, you can go to Hogwarts and I'll get the kids to the station. Sirius can apparate by himself." He added to Natalie, who nodded, hugging Martha and saying goodbye to the others. "Okay guys, you'll have to hold onto each others' hands rather tightly so no one is left behind."

The teenagers all held hands tightly and Julius took his son's hand and they'd soon left the house and arrived at Kings Cross Station. Sirius soon appeared and immediately transformed into a dog. Together they walked to the barrier separating platforms 9 and 10. They all took turns leaning casually against it and falling through onto Platform 9 ¾, where they would catch the Hogwarts Express. Once everyone was on the platform, the teenagers ran to find their friends, Sirius running after Martha, Lannastar and Christina.

"Hey girls!" their friends, Paige Lupin, Christine Wilkinson, Dora Snape and Chrisa Jones, all screamed excitedly.

"Hello!" Martha screamed, just as excitedly as the Canine Maraudesses boarded the train so they could find a compartment.

"How were your holidays?" Christine asked Martha and Lannastar in particular. "I went to visit you at your house, but you weren't there. No one was home. What happened? Where did you go?" she asked them, not so subtly.

"Mum and Dad decided to move us in with Christina. Because otherwise we'd probably all be killed by Voldemort. He's seemed to have his sights on little Adelyne, and is trying to kill her at any opportunity. So we thought that if we moved out we'd have a chance at confusing him." Martha explained and understanding dawned on everyone's faces.

Halfway to Hogwarts, the train suddenly stopped and an ear-splitting scream was able to be heard from the compartment next to theirs.

"Voldemort!" Martha whispered to her friends, pressing a finger to her lips as they crouched down, huddling up to prevent anyone getting hurt. It was pitch dark outside, and rain was pattering the windows as the girls kept close to each other. Suddenly, the door of their compartment opened and a tall cloaked figure walked in, pointing a wand at the terrified girls. It was Lord Voldemort and he was obviously not going to take any prisoners. Instead, he was going to kill them all.

"I knew you were still alive, Christina Wilson!" he said angrily. "Your sister cheated me! _Avada Kedav_–" he began, but a male voice interrupted loudly.

"Don't you dare touch the girls, Voldemort!" it said and Voldemort whirled around and nearly fainted with surprise. Sirius was standing there in his human form, his wand pointed at the Dark Lord.

"Sirius Black? Aren't you supposed to be dead? I thought Bellatrix killed you." He spluttered, surprised.

"My brother died in my place. Regulus was brave, and decided to go to the Ministry in my place. You'd have killed him anyway, just for changing his mind about serving you! You murdered my best friend; you murdered my daughter's best friend! You killed several thousand wizards and witches throughout the wizarding world and you're proud of it! You sick ass hole!" Sirius shouted angrily, keeping his wand steady, no matter how much his voice shook.

"Would you like to join your best friend? And your brother? I can make that happen." Voldemort said, recovering himself.

"Go f*** yourself Voldemort!" Sirius shouted and the Maraudesses all looked surprised that he could come up with such a word. Even Voldemort seemed surprised, but recovered himself quickly. Suddenly, however, three men appeared in the compartment, all pointing their wands at Voldemort. One man had shoulder-length, greasy black hair and sallow skin, the second had short, light brown hair and dark peach coloured skin, and the third had shoulder-length, slightly darker brown hair and dark peach coloured skin. The black-haired man was Dora's father, Severus Snape, the lighter-brown haired man was Paige's father, Remus Lupin, and the third man was Christine's father, William Wilkinson.

"You even threaten my friend and daughter, Voldemort, and you'll pay with your life!" Severus snarled at Voldemort, but he laughed.

"I'd like to see you try Snape!" Voldemort sneered at him, but Severus held his ground.

"I wouldn't dare me, Voldemort. Remember, it was me who killed Dumbledore." He said.

"You did, but only to protect Draco from me. Otherwise, you wouldn't have the guts." Voldemort taunted him.

"Voldemort, he means it," Remus warned the Dark Lord, neither his voice nor his wand trembling. "And so do I. You will pay with your life if you even lay a finger on my daughter or friends. And I'm not just threatening you; I will kill you if you touch them. Any of them."

"Are you truly sure, Lupin? You are a werewolf, after all. Do you remember when you were bitten? It was me who sent Fenrir on you. It was me who planned you to be bitten, and if I could help it, killed." Voldemort whispered to him, but still he stood his ground.

"Your taunting isn't working Voldemort. And in case you haven't noticed, half of us in this compartment are werewolves, and we are more than willing to kill you with those forms." Remus said bravely.

"I wouldn't if I were you, Voldemort. You're in trouble now. Your taunting isn't working on us and we're all willing to avenge each other if you kill anyone, so what are you going to do? Run away now, like the coward you are, or stay and fight us, and die fighting us?" William taunted the Dark Lord. Voldemort twitched but stayed where he was.

"You talk big, but can you back it up?" he asked them calmly.

"Don't try us, Voldemort! We mean it!" Severus warned him, none of the men's wands moving from Voldemort's chest.

"Voldemort, can you back your threats up?" William asked him savagely. Voldemort looked taken aback and pointed his wand at his chest, but the Maraudesses stood up, standing next to the four men, their wands all pointed at Voldemort's chest.

"_Avada Kedavra_!" Voldemort said, but William and Severus had said it at exactly the same time. Three blasts of green light flew through the air and hit each other, bursting into nothing but a set of green coloured sparks. His killing curse failed, Voldemort disapparated and Martha, Paige, Dora and Christine hugged their respective fathers, their faces buried in their chests.

"Are you all alright?" William asked the girls softly, looking concerned as he hugged his daughter.

"We're fine, but we could've died so easily." Christine replied, sobbing into her father's chest.

"At least you're still alive. All of you." William replied, comforting his daughter. Suddenly, the train floor started vibrating and mountains and farmland passed the windows rapidly. The driver had taken this opportunity to get the train moving. "Now, I'd better report to the Minister for Magic about Voldemort's attack of the Hogwarts train. I'll see you later, Christine. Girls, I bid you goodnight, and I may see you later." William said, looking at his watch. Christine let go of him, farewelling him.

"I'll see you later, William." Remus and Sirius chorused, both taking it in turns to shake his hand. Severus was obviously hesitating, but eventually he sighed, shaking William's hand as well.

"Goodbye William." He said and William smiled at the girls before disapparating.

"I'll see you all at school girls." Severus said, also disapparating.

"Paige, I'll see you later on. Bye girls." Remus said, also disapparating.

"Are you all alright?" Sirius asked the teenagers when the other men had all disapparated.

"We're fine, thank you Sirius." Christina replied, her hand over her heart. "As terrifying as it was." She added, laughing humourlessly.

"Good. Okay, you girls had better get changed into your robes, we're getting close." He said, transforming into a dog and leaving the compartment. Martha closed the door and the girls got changed into their black Hogwarts robes with blue hems, to show they were in Ravenclaw house.

"I'm going to get Dad and tell him he can come back in again." Martha told her friends, opening the door of the compartment. Sirius was there, sitting in his corgi form. "We're ready now, Dad." She whispered and he inclined his head, dog-trotting into the compartment, sitting in front of Martha and panting.

At Hogwarts, the girls got off the train, walking up to the school and into the Great Hall, leaving their trunks on the train. Sitting down at the Ravenclaw table, they started talking about what had happened on the train. Suddenly, they saw a boy in his seventh year that had dark brown hair and medium-tone peach coloured skin run up to Christina, his face paler than usual. This boy was Christina's boyfriend, Seamus Finnigan.

"Christina!" he said, panting slightly. "Are you alright? Voldemort didn't hurt you, did he?" he asked Christina, who smiled slightly.

"No, Si– Professor Snape, Remus and William Wilkinson appeared and protected us. He eventually disapparated, and none of us were hurt." She replied, only just in time remembering that Sirius Black was supposed to be dead.

"Oh, okay. That's good." He said, kissing her briefly before running back to his own table (the Gryffindor table).


	4. The Beginning of the End

_Chapter 4: The Beginning of the End_

Martha and her friends were settling back into the rhythm of classes at Hogwarts quite well, but there was still the air of fear right through the whole school. And Martha could understand their fear – Voldemort was planning an attack on Hogwarts and would kill everyone who got in his way. And what set everyone on edge even more, was the fact of their previous headmaster, Professor Dumbledore's death at the end of the previous year. Even the teachers were on edge, dreading the time when Voldemort suddenly attacked the school. The current Headmistress and Paige's mother, Professor McGonagall, was having a hard time of keeping order in the students and teachers. The matrons, Natalie and Martha's grandmother, Madam Pomfrey, were worried, because of the amount of injuries people could receive and the amount of deaths that could happen in the school.

The first sign that Voldemort was on his way to attack the school was one windy October Thursday afternoon when dragons came out of nowhere and swooped down on the school, forcing everyone who was outside for Herbology or Care of Magical Creatures to take cover. Several students that were too slow were picked up in the dragons' talons and dropped from several hundred feet. Quidditch was cancelled that year, because of the looming threat of Voldemort's attack. And what worried Martha and her friends most of all, was the looming full moon. Full moons this year were far more dangerous because Voldemort was planning on taking control of all werewolves to kill as many people in Hogwarts as possible. He was also trying to control the giants and had obviously already taken control of the dragons, which were dangerous enough as it was without his help.

"Martha, look out!" Christina's voice came out of nowhere. Martha looked up and saw a dragon swooping down on her, its claws outstretched. She ducked too late. It picked her up in its talons and carried her hundreds of feet into the air. Looking up, she saw something on its back – it was a Death Eater and she knew that Voldemort was behind this attack. She struggled in the dragon's grasp and eventually managed to make it let go. Instead of falling, she held on to its ankle, climbing up, using its rough scales as hand and footholds. Eventually she was over its hind leg and on its rump. Clinging on to its spines for dear life, she slowly climbed up and grabbed the Death Eater's head, catching him by surprise. Using her werewolfish strength, she jerked his head to the side hard, breaking his neck. After that, she dropped him off the dragon's back, to ensure that he died. With that, she looked down at the ground and realised the ground was coming slightly closer; the dragon was swooping down for another person. Sirius, in his corgi form, leapt onto the dragon's tail and climbed up, eventually reaching Martha. He transformed back and used his wand to land the dragon, before he and Martha dismounted and he magically made the dragon free from Voldemort's grasp, before becoming a corgi again.


	5. More Grief

_Chapter 5: More Grief_

It was the night of the full moon and Martha, Paige, Dora, Christine, Christina, Lannastar, Chrisa, Dean, Seamus, Sirius and Natalie, along with other students from the school all ran into the Forbidden Forest to transform, where they would be with other werewolves that lived in there full time. During the transformation, the females separated themselves from the males. Once the transformation was finished, all the werewolves were as normal until they caught the scent of humans. They ran at the human, before recoiling in fear. Even in the werewolfish world, Lord Voldemort's name was well known. He forced some werewolves to attack the others that would disobey him. Unfortunately, Natalie was one of them and she attacked the werewolves that weren't under the Imperius Curse. But the werewolves fought back and eventually only Natalie was left alive, because everyone was reluctant to attack her, to kill her. No one wanted her to die, but eventually they had no choice, as the lead male of the pack attacked her for attacking them. Sirius stopped him, but not before it was too late. Natalie was on the ground in the forest, her head thrust back and a gaping wound to her throat. Her forelegs were still, and her chest was barely rising and falling with every breath she took. Martha's instinct told her that Natalie was beyond help. Her own mother was dying too early.

When the sun rose the next morning and Martha and her friends and father transformed back, they ran straight to Natalie's limp form, now that of a human. The woman was struggling to breathe and she whispered to Sirius to look after Martha, before falling limp, no longer breathing. Martha checked her pulse, checked her breathing, but couldn't feel anything. Tears in her eyes, she desperately tried CPR, but Sirius hugged her, pulling her away from Natalie's corpse. Martha struggled against her father's strong grasp, struggled to get back to her mother, tears now streaming down her cheeks. Still, Sirius didn't relax his grip, still he kept a hold of her until she finally stopped struggling and resorted to crying into his chest, finally accepting that her mother was dead, and there was nothing she could do to revive her. Dean approached her silently and slowly, placing his hand on her shoulder and she hugged him instead. Everyone was silent as they watched her mourn, Sirius now with his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs next to his wife's body.

Eventually, everyone walked back up to the school, Sirius in his dog form and Martha carrying her mother. When they got back inside the castle, Martha and her friends carried the corpse to the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey looked and her jaw dropped. Martha could see tears in her grandmother's eyes as she walked quickly to her office, soon returning with a man on her heels. He was tall with brown hair that had grey streaks through it and green eyes, and Martha instantly recognised him as her grandfather, Terry Talleo. He took one look at his daughter's corpse and sat on the nearest bed in shock.

"I know that there may be nothing we can do to save her, but is there any chance that she's still alive?" Terry asked his granddaughter in shock, but Martha shook her head, tears running down her face non-stop. Terry sighed, tears in his eyes as he nodded his head slowly.

"Thank you for letting us know Martha. I think you should go up and see Professor McGonagall and tell her that Lord Voldemort has at last attacked the castle, and we could be seeing quite a lot more of this." Madam Pomfrey said and Martha nodded, tears still running down her cheeks as she and her friends walked up to the second floor, where the Headmistress' office was located. Knocking on the door, they were soon allowed into the office by Professor McGonagall, who was looking confused and worried about their sad faces.

"What's wrong girls? How can I help you?" she asked them softly.

"Professor McGonagall, Lord Voldemort has attacked Hogwarts. My mother was killed last night, and we were told to let you know." Martha explained softly, tears still running down her cheeks. McGonagall sighed, placing her hand on the grieving girl's shoulder.

"Thank you for letting me know. And Martha I'm sorry about your mother. You're granted two months mourning leave from all your classes. You may spend them as you wish, but please do not leave the castle during those two months. For your own safety." She said and Martha nodded slowly, giving the Headmistress a watery smile.

"Thank you Professor McGonagall." She said.

"That's alright Martha, now would you mind telling your grandmother that she has three weeks mourning leave from work, but we will need another matron until she's recovered from her shock enough to come back to work." McGonagall told her and she nodded as she and her friends walked out of the office, Christine with her hand on Martha's shoulder.


	6. The Real Attack

_Chapter 6: The Real Attack_

Two months later, Martha's mourning leave from all her classes had finished and it was time for her to go back to classes, despite the fact that she was still mourning the loss of her mother. Her father had taken to staying with her wherever she went and only left her alone to go to the toilet, but even then he was always just outside the door to the girls' toilet block. His reasoning for this behaviour was because he'd promised Natalie when she'd died that he would always protect the fifteen year old.

Hogwarts seemed to be back to normal, but with all the clues that pointed to attack, everyone was still nervous, and now that it was December and nearing Christmas, they also had to find time to have fun, among all the fear that had settled on the school. Several students had gone home for Christmas, but the Canine Maraudesses and the Ravenclaw Rebels stayed at school for Christmas, to stay with each other and protect each other from any harm that could come to them.

It was Christmas Day that Voldemort attacked Hogwarts and anyone he saw died. The Maraudesses and the Rebels only survived because they'd hidden in the Hospital Wing and tried their best to keep themselves safe from harm, but it wasn't easy. They witnessed the deaths of several students and teachers who couldn't get away fast enough, but McGonagall and several other teachers, including Severus, Professor Flitwick, Professor Trelawney, Madam Pince and Madam Hooch, hid in the Hospital Wing as well. Unfortunately, several other teachers were killed because of Voldemort's rampage. The Hospital Wing was now highly packed full of teachers and students that were desperately trying to flee from Voldemort. But when Voldemort started on the Hospital Wing, those teachers and students trying to survive had to hide quickly, but it wasn't easy, because of the amount of them. They were quite literally trapped in the school, but they made sure they had enough provisions to survive and enough places to hide. Voldemort seized several students that couldn't find a place to hide or weren't hidden well enough and demanded to know where the others were. Severus had cleared the potions stores of Veritaserum so that he couldn't force the people he'd captured to tell them the truth. While Voldemort was trying to get answers out of them, the rest of the students and teachers snuck out of the Hospital Wing and ran towards the front doors of the castle. They would escape from the school and disapparate home. But when they reached the Entrance Hall, they saw the large oak front doors heavily guarded by Death Eaters. They ran down the stairs that led into the dungeons, where they were sure Voldemort wouldn't find them. They ran into a secret underground passage that none of them knew was there, but Lannastar's boyfriend, Draco Malfoy, seemed to know it quite well.

"This is the only chance we have of escaping them alive." He told them and they followed him into the passage and all the way to a large cavern in the side that looked as though it could hide all of them. They ran into it and sat on several benches that stood there.

"Um, since we're all here together, and trying our level best to keep ourselves alive, it might be better if we call each other by our first names." McGonagall said to them all and everyone agreed.

"And it might also be useful if you all knew who was here with us." Martha piped up, stroking Sirius' corgi head gently. Everyone looked at her in confusion and she sighed. "Sirius Black is alive, innocent and is here with us." She told them and Sirius transformed back into his human self.

"Oh. Okay, well I guess I can't well send him back, can I? He is your father, so I guess he has a right to stay." McGonagall said. Sirius smiled slightly at her as they sat there, now in complete silence. They were listening intently for any sound that hinted them that Voldemort may be on his way either along the tunnel or towards it. When no sound reached their ears, they all breathed freely, calming down slightly.

"So Draco, do you know where this tunnel comes out?" Sirius asked Draco, looking around.

"It comes out in the Forbidden Forest, if the end hasn't caved in." Draco replied softly. "I know it isn't much, but it's the only chance we have of survival." He said, hugging Lannastar to calm her down.

"That's fine. Thank you for letting us know, Draco." Severus said.

"Now, for safety reasons, do we all have our wands on us?" McGonagall asked the rest of them and they all nodded.

"Well, except for Adelyne and Julius, who don't have wands at all yet." Martha commented as Madam Pomfrey handed the two small children to their respective mothers. Martha and Dean hugged their baby daughter, looking into her tiny face. Christina was hugging her son, which Voldemort still didn't seem to know he was the real father of.

"At least we all have our wands on us though." McGonagall sighed as Paige and Adrian stayed together, Paige's stomach quite large now.

They stayed in that cavern for several days, using their wands to create food for themselves and the two young children. They were quite content until one day when they heard voices approaching. The voices sounded rough and they all knew that the voices belonged to that of Death Eaters who had found the tunnel. The small group of survivors ran silently through the tunnel out into a green tinged daylight. They ran into a small clearing of the Forbidden Forest and quickly darted into some dense trees, where they would be well hidden. They stayed quiet until Paige suddenly moaned softly, clutching her stomach tightly.

"Are you okay Paige?" Christine asked her softly, looking worried.

"She's probably just gone into labour. We need somewhere private for her to give birth and preferably for that place to be sound-proofed, so no Death Eaters hear her screams." Madam Pomfrey explained and using their wands, they all created a shelter for Paige, sound-proofing it and putting protective charms around it. After that, they all walked further away, except for Paige, Madam Pomfrey and Adrian, who stayed in the shelter. Eventually, Madam Pomfrey emerged from the shelter, smiling.

"How did it go, Poppy?" McGonagall asked her, looking worried for her daughter.

"Both mother and child are fine. You may quietly go see them if you wish." Madam Pomfrey replied and McGonagall walked into the shelter.

About a couple of days later, when Madam Pomfrey was sure Paige was strong enough to walk, they left the shelter, leaving no trace they'd ever been there, and walked to the very deepest part of the forest, before taking a right turn and going until they reached the very back of the forest, where the school gate blocked them off from the outside world.

"Are you sure we'll be safe here, Martha?" McGonagall asked her softly, looking around cautiously. Martha was the one who had decided to stay around that area, and everyone trusted her, whether grudgingly or willingly.

"Believe me, Minerva, if Voldemort dares come here, we'll be protected. There's too much tree cover and the trunks are too close together to allow him to see us. And the sound of our voices will just bounce off the trunks; it won't travel enough to allow him to hear, unless he's got his ear pressed against the leaves. It's not likely he'll be able to hear us." Martha said to Minerva (McGonagall) and the latter nodded slowly, understanding slowly dawning on her face.

"Alright. We're trusting you about this. Don't let us down, please." She said.

"Don't worry Minerva, she never lets anyone down, especially when it comes to other's lives at stake." Dean said and Minerva nodded slowly.

"Okay, I was just a bit worried, that's all. Even if I'm running for my life, I'm still the Headmistress and I still need to take responsibility for all the survivors." She told him and he nodded understandingly.

"Alright." He said softly.


	7. The Great Escape

_Chapter 7: The Great Escape_

Several weeks later, there were continuous attempts by Voldemort to attack the area they were staying, but none of them prevailed. Martha's hideout had proved to be effective so far, but they noticed that he was gradually breaking through and they had cornered themselves.

"Alright, if we're to at least have a chance at survival, we need to have our wands at the ready. The children should stay behind their parents, as they have more of a chance to survive if they're there, rather than in front. If we die, we want to make sure the children have the best chance at life." Poppy (Madam Pomfrey) said and they nodded. They drew their wands so they were ready for the time when Voldemort broke through the thick trees.

Voldemort was still trying to get through the trees after two hours, and by then, the small group of survivors had found a way to get out without him seeing them. So they packed their things up again and picked up the children, before walking out of the hideout, making sure he couldn't see them. Thankfully, they were hidden by the mass of trees.

"Where are we going to hide next, Martha? Since you seem to know this forest so well." Little Professor Flitwick panted, following the group at a jog to keep up.

"Filius, I'm going to be entirely truthful to you. To be completely honest, I don't know where the safest place would be after Voldemort had found our last site. The only thing between him and killing us were the trees, which were our only protection. In fact, the best thing to do at this point would be to go below the Whomping Willow. Into the Shrieking Shack." Martha said in a whisper and Sirius looked at her.

"But there's no one with an animagi form small enough to get between the branches to the knot." He said to her but Minerva was first to protest against what he said.

"Sirius, my animagi form is a cat, and cats are not only small, they are also highly agile, so I'll be able to get between the branches. Martha's idea is actually the only option we have." She told him and he sighed, nodding.

"Alright, but at this point in time, we can't risk anyone getting hurt, because it'll only give Voldemort enough time to catch up." he said as they darted silently through the forest, eventually ending up in the gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid's pumpkin patch. They quickly and silently darted through the back door of Hagrid's hut and hid inside briefly. Once they were sure the coast was clear, they quickly ran out of the front door and over to the Whomping Willow. Minerva changed into her tabby cat animagi form and darted between the thrashing branches and pressed the knot in the roots, causing the tree to stand completely still. Everyone quickly darted down the gap into the roots and walked along the tunnel underneath the tree. Minerva soon appeared behind them and together they walked until they eventually saw a light. Sirius extinguished the light of his wand and walked through the dark and into the room beyond. It was the Shrieking Shack, a large house in Hogsmeade Village and was completely deserted. The doors and windows were boarded and unable to be opened, so the only way out was through the tunnel which they'd come. The furniture was all torn and smashed, obviously by a creature unknown to most people in the room.

Eventually, they'd all decided that the men would sleep downstairs and the women upstairs with the three young children.


	8. How Much More?

_Chapter 8: How Much More?_

Two months later, it was the 22nd of February, and Martha's birthday. Sirius woke her that morning, smiling as he wished her happy birthday. She smiled at him sleepily as she sat up.

"Thanks Dad. By the way, who's going to go and get breakfast?" she asked him.

"We'll have to magically create our breakfast, because your grandfather was killed last night while he was on guard duty. Poppy still doesn't know, so we will have to tell her when she wakes up. I'm sorry; there was nothing we could do." He said softly, hugging her as she burst into tears. First her mother, now her grandfather. Pretty soon, it would be her grandmother, and the only living person from her mother's side of the family would be her. It wasn't fair that people should die before their time, and Martha didn't want any more people to die early. She would do everything in her power to stop it, to stop the slaughter and therefore stop the grief caused by their deaths. She would avenge her mother, brother and grandfather's deaths.

"Martha?" came a voice softly. "Martha, what's wrong?"

Martha looked up and saw Poppy sitting there, looking curious and sympathetic.

"It's Terry. I'm sorry Poppy, but he was killed late last night while he was on guard duty." Sirius said softly and surprisingly, Poppy didn't burst into tears over her husband. Instead, she nodded and descended the stairs.

Ten minutes later, and everyone was awake, but Poppy still hadn't reappeared. Martha, Sirius, Dean, Minerva and Severus walked slowly around the house searching for her, when they returned, shaking their heads.

"Any sign of her?" Filius asked the group softly.

"No, not one. It's almost as if she disappeared off the face of the planet." Severus said softly.

"Were there any cupboards or rooms you haven't checked?" Dora asked her father softly.

"Wait a sec…there was one cupboard that was locked, and we assumed it was something unrelated to Poppy's disappearance. Unless she's locked herself in there." Dean said softly and everyone staying in the house ran to the cupboard and Filius unlocked it, opening the door. What they saw made twelve of the women faint and the men all clap their hands over their mouths in horror. Poppy was in there, but she was badly cut up. Her head was barely attached to her neck and her wand and a short sword were lying on the floor in front of her. None of them could see her skin for all the blood covering her, and her clothes were stained. She was almost unrecognisable as Poppy Talleo, as Martha's usually very emotionally strong grandmother who'd obviously taken her own life. Martha turned away, as she was starting to feel sick from all the blood, and fell to her knees, her head in her hands. She felt Dean place his arm around her shoulders gently.

"I can't believe she would take her own life…She was always so emotionally strong. Why would she do this?" she said softly to her boyfriend, tears leaking from her eyes.

"I'm sorry Martha, but I think that it may have been impulse from the death of her husband." Minerva said softly, crouching down next to her. Martha sighed, nodding slowly.

"I had a feeling that was the case. Thanks Minerva." She said softly to Minerva and the latter smiled sadly, placing her hand briefly on Martha's shoulder before standing up. Martha and Dean followed suit and the group gently picked up the temporarily unconscious women and carried them upstairs.

Back upstairs, they lay them down, Martha magically creating some damp cloths to place on their foreheads.

"They'll be fine. I think it was just the blood that got to them and made them feel light-headed." Martha said softly and they nodded.

"Um guys, I think we'd better get out of here soon." Christine said softly, looking around and sniffing the air.

"Why Christine?" Minerva asked, but all the werewolves (Martha, Paige, Dora, Christine, Christina, Dean, Sirius, Severus, Chrisa, Lannastar, Mitchel Jones [Chrisa's brother], and Seamus Finnigan [Christina's boyfriend]) instantly knew what she meant.

"You-Know-Who's coming this way. He's nearly in the house, so we need to move sometime soon." Sirius said softly, also sniffing the air.

"Alright. Well, Sybill, Luna, Hannah, Ginny, Pavarti, Padma, Susan, Mandy, Adrianna, Lisa, Renee and Jessica should revive soon, I think." Martha said, checking the unconscious women over. Suddenly, Ginny, the red-haired sixth year girl, groaned, opening her eyes.

"Are you okay Ginny?" Martha asked her softly.

"I think so. Are the others okay?" Ginny replied, sitting up slowly.

"They'll be fine. They've just fainted." Martha replied.


	9. On the Run Again

_Chapter 9: On the Run Again_

Ten minutes later, all the fainted women revived and the group of survivors packed the few things they had with them. They left the house as though they'd never been in there. Poppy and Terry were with them, wrapped in sheets, Sirius carrying Poppy's corpse, while Severus carried Terry's corpse. They were planning to give their two dead companions a proper burial in the school grounds, where most of the previous headmasters, including their most recent, Professor Dumbledore, were buried.

They crept out of the shack and into Hogsmeade, where there was the distinct chill of Dementors around. To the werewolves, the smell of fear in this village was so strong, that they had a hard time continuing on unhindered. Twice they stopped to rest and allow the werewolves to gain the strength to resist the urge to run around, chasing the smell of fear and kill those fearful people and animals.

Eventually they made it back to the Hogwarts grounds and found that the students that had gone home for Christmas were beginning to mill around the gates to the school.

"What's going on? Why are the gates closed?" one of the students asked loudly to the group, who'd managed to find a way into the grounds.

"You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters have attacked Hogwarts and have taken over. We're going to try and fend them off." Severus told them and a seventh year Slytherin boy spoke to the crowd of students behind him, and they yelled in agreement to what he said, even the Gryffindors, who usually hated the Slytherins.

"Let us in, and we'll help you get Hogwarts back from him." He told the group, who looked at each other, asking each other if it was worth risking the lives of all the students.

"Just agree to it. It'll work, because I could always get Dad here to help us as well." Paige said to her mother, who was the main person worried.

"And I could get my father and the other Aurors to help us as well as Remus." Christine piped up and Minerva sighed, reluctantly agreeing.

"Alright. We'll let them help us, but we'll need a place that we can use as our safe house. Unfortunately, the Shrieking Shack isn't an option, because he's already broken into that, and the secret tunnel was also discovered." Minerva said, thinking hard.

"We'll allow the other students in and then we'll think of a safe place." Christina said, looking briefly back at the growing number of students coming back to Hogwarts.

"But I'm not allowing anyone below their fifth year to help us fight. They can stay in the safe house and help us work on some plans to overthrow the dark side, but they're not fighting. I refuse to risk the lives of anyone below fifteen years." Minerva said and the rest nodded in agreement.

"Good call, because fifth year students will have at least a basic idea of fighting the dark arts." Martha said slowly, before turning back to the students at the gate.

"Okay, we've agreed to allow you to help us defeat the dark arts, but we can't allow any student below their fifth year to help us when we're actually fighting them. You can help us come up with plans to defeat them, instead." Severus said, allowing the students in. "Now follow us quietly. We want no noise at all, in case any of his Death Eaters find us." He added to them softly and they obeyed him, following the group towards the Forbidden Forest where they would hide temporarily from the Dark Lord.

"By the way, we're also going to have to bury two bodies. Madam Pomfrey and her husband are dead, and we need to give them a proper burial, because of their bravery against the Dark Lord." Filius said to the mass of students, who all nodded. "Martha, Sirius, come with me and we'll bury them." He added to Martha and Sirius, who both nodded, standing up and following the wizard to the graves of the previous headmasters and headmistresses. There, they dug two graves and lay the bodies in them, sighing as they said prayers to help them into the afterlife. After that, they filled up the graves with soil and placed gravestones at the top of them, with the names, birthdates and date of death on them. After that, they headed back to their companions.

"Okay, we need to figure out a place to stay that will be safe from the dark side, where we can keep the under-fifteens and stay at night, and when we're not fighting. Does anyone have any ideas?" Severus asked the students, who all racked their brains to remember any places.

"Actually, there's a secret passage just off the Ravenclaw common room. No one can find it unless you know where it is. I doubt that even the Dark Lord or any of his Death Eaters would be able to find it." Paige suddenly said, remembering the passage that she'd discovered while exploring the castle one night.

"Okay. Is it large enough to fit all of us here comfortably?" Sirius asked her.

"Yes. It's large enough to fit double the amount of students and teachers that we had last year in it." Paige said and everyone nodded slightly.

"Good, let's go. Does everyone have their wands on them?" Minerva asked the students, who all nodded. "Okay, we're off. Follow Paige everyone."

The now enormous group had been sneaking through the castle with their wands drawn and sticking close to each other. They'd been walking silently for half an hour before they managed to reach the Ravenclaw common room, and Martha gave the password. The portrait swung open and they entered the common room, walking quickly to the bookcase, which they pushed aside and found small hole in the wall. Paige placed her wand in the hole, which widened until it formed a huge tunnel. Everyone entered the tunnel and walked until they came to an iron door. Paige opened it and entered the room beyond. The entrance to the tunnel closed behind them and the bookshelf moved back to cover the hole. It was dark in the room, so Paige lit her wand. It not only looked large enough to house them all, but also extremely comfortable. Excluding the lack of light, the walls weren't at all rocky and the ceiling was nice and high. The room also had, instead of a rocky or earthy floor, a wooden floor made up of floorboards. Two small wooden doors in the sides of the room led to the bathrooms, one for men and the other for women, and there was an enormous round table in the middle of the room, with hundreds of chairs around it.

"So far, it looks good enough to house everyone in here for a while. In the way of food, however, it looks as though we'll have to create our own. And light could also be a problem." Minerva said, looking around.

"There's a large window about two metres below the ceiling, which will let in the light during the day, but its only dark in here because its night." Paige replied and Minerva nodded.

"Alright, well, this'll have to do. It not only meets our requirements in the way of safety, protection and size, but it's also comfortable. Men on that side of the room, women on this side." She said, and the men all went to the side of the room that the men's bathroom was. The women all went to the side of the women's bathroom. Minerva's husband, and Paige's step-father, Troy, however, stayed where he was.

"Minerva, what about the couples?" he asked his wife and she sighed, walking back towards him.

"The couples, I guess, can stay together at night." She said and Dean instantly ran into Martha's arms.

"Martha, Dean, you both remember the condition on which I'm allowing you two to be together, I assume?" Sirius asked them, walking over. Dean pulled away, pouting.

"Sirius, most of us know the condition you and Natalie made on them being together, but we're all sleeping in the one large room, so we'll all know if anything happens between them." Minerva told him and he sighed, hesitantly relenting.

"Fine, but nothing is to happen, okay guys?" Sirius asked his daughter and her boyfriend seriously.

"Okay Dad, I promise." Martha replied, rolling her eyes at her boyfriend, who was practically dancing with joy. Martha thought he could have hugged Minerva if she and Troy weren't in the room. "And Dean, behave yourself." She added to Dean, starting to laugh for the time since her grandparents' deaths.


	10. A New Nurse

_Chapter 10: A new Nurse_

Two weeks after the now rather large group had decided to stay in the secret room just off the Ravenclaw common room, and the over-fifteens were walking around the grounds, ready for a sudden attack from Voldemort, when they heard a rustling sound in the outermost trees of the Forbidden Forest. They all stood stock still, listening intently, waiting for an attack, when a woman with brown hair tied back in a loose bun walked out of the trees, two children behind her, all three looking thin, ragged, hungry and tired. Suddenly, one of the children collapsed and the woman knelt next to her, picking her up in her arms. Chrisa suddenly made a weird noise, something like a cross between a whimper and a sob. Martha looked around at her and saw that she was looking at the woman, a pitying expression on her face.

"What's wrong Chrisa?" she asked her friend softly.

"That's Madam Fray, the matron at Warty Dublin's. But why is she so thin…and what is she doing here?" Chrisa replied softly, starting towards the woman. The woman suddenly collapsed, both of her daughters following suit. The group ran up to them, Martha and Chrisa checking them over.

"It's okay; they've just collapsed from hunger. They'll revive soon." Martha said. "Should we get them back to the base?" she asked Minerva, who looked sorrowful.

"Yes, I think so." Minerva replied, and Sirius walked forward with Severus.

"We'll take them." They said, just as Seamus walked forward after them.

"I'll carry one." He said and the two men sighed, Sirius picking up Fray, Severus holding one child and Seamus bent down and picked up the other child. Together, they carried the three unconscious people up to the Ravenclaw common room, Martha opening the entrance to the tunnel. They all walked inside and Minerva opened the iron door leading to the room, and they entered the room, the three men carrying the three unconscious people. Paige, as a 14 year old, walked up to them, helping them lay the girls on some beds that Martha created.

"Wait Chrisa, so who are they? You seem to know them." Paige asked Chrisa softly.

"Yes, I know them. The adult is Madam Fray, the matron from Warty Dublin's, and the children are her daughters, Louise and Krystal." Chrisa replied, just as Madam Fray groaned slightly, opening her eyes slowly. "Madam Fray!" she exclaimed, kneeling next to the woman. "Are you okay?" she asked her.

"I'll be fine Chrisa. What about Louise and Krystal? Are they alright?" Madam Fray replied, looking around for her daughters.

"They'll be fine. They're still unconscious, but they should regain consciousness soon." Martha said, walking over.

"Okay. Where am I, by the way?" Fray asked them curiously.

"At Hogwarts. At the moment we're in hiding from the Dark Lord, but he shouldn't find us here." Martha replied softly.

"Oh, I had to apparate somewhere, and I don't know where I ended up, but I was desperate to get away from Warty Dublin's. Chrisa, your mother has joined the Dark Lord. And she's killing anyone who disobeys her. Derryn and I managed to get most of the students out of there, but the rest couldn't get out in time. It's no longer a school…it's a murder-hole, instead. People were dying left, right and centre, I couldn't stay there while the girls were there. So I apparated here to England." She said softly, taking deep breaths.

"Where is Professor Drekk, by the way?" Chrisa asked her, looking concerned.

"Who's Professor Drekk, Chrisa?" Martha asked her friend.

"Professor Drekk was my potions teacher at Warty Dublin's. Thanks to him, I'm still alive now. If he hadn't taken me to Madam Fray when I stabbed myself in the wrist, I'd be dead, as would my son." Chrisa replied softly, still looking at Fray. "Madam Fray, do you know where Professor Drekk is?" she asked Fray softly.

"He said he'd be somewhere around here…I'm not sure exactly where he is now. That's all I know; sorry I couldn't tell you more." Fray said softly.

"That's okay, Madam Fray, I forgive you…but we'll need to find him once you and your daughters have completely recovered. In order to prevent him from being killed by the Dark Lord." Chrisa said softly and Fray nodded.

"Alright. Um, do you think I'll be able to know everyone's names?" she asked, looking around at everyone standing around her, looking confused and concerned at the same time.

"Well, you may end up having an overload, but we'll give you the names anyway. I'm Martha Black, this is my father, Sirius Black, this is Paige Lupin, this is Lannastar Potter, this is Christine Wilkinson, Christina Wilson, Dora Snape, her father Severus Snape, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Ethene, Jack Lupin, Draco Malfoy, Mitchel Jones, Peter Travis, Adrian Nuttelmock, Paige's mother, Minerva…Tardiff, Troy Tardiff, Arnold Cook, Rowan Pisanda, Geoff Waller, Aaron Pleddar, Matthew Rolone, Patrick White, George Shivola, Jake Gall, Daniel DiShonn, Daniel Browne, Ginny Weasley, Sybill Trelawney, Luna Lovegood, Hannah Abbott, Pavarti Patil, Padma Patil, Susan Bones, Mandy Tarl, Adrianna Jests, Lisa Gherq, Renee Watts, Jessica Eflenia – make sure you tell me if you're overloading with names – then there's Rachel Woodley, Filius Flitwick, Marcus Dornham, Jane Goodwill, Richard Larritt, Tim Larritt, Isabella Thain, Jonathan Crowley, Katie Thain, Jennifer Vuong, Nghi Vuong, Charmian Lariat, Chan Akermanis, Arnold Appleby, Sarah Atherton, William Scarfe, Jessie Mills, Zach Barin, Myles Koback, Terri Johnson, Courtney Cutsley, Rebecca Brain, Jorey Brone, Linda Rowsley, Kirsty Coyle, Kristy Croxley, Ceria Snakewit, Lewis Rafold, Emily Willus, Diego Folliet, Bindi Thain, Robert Thain, my daughter Adelyne Ethene, Paige's daughter Ebony Nuttelmock." Martha said, pointing out all 72 people to her. "Shall I continue, or are there too many to remember?" she asked Fray.

"I think I could cope with a few more. I just won't be able to remember who's who very easily, that's all." Fray replied, smiling.

"Okay then…then there's Alan Rooter, Christina's son Julius…Finnigan, Melissa Marlo, who my father is raising after her parents died, my youngest sister Jessica Black, Dora's younger sister Catherine Snape, Lerisa Robinson, Zephyr Robinson, Lericus Wilton, Laicus Wilton, Laricus Wilton, and Drake Malfoy." Martha said and Fray nodded in greeting at everyone mentioned. "It'll take you a while to remember who's who, but eventually you'll get it. Believe me, I'm still learning." She added, laughing. Just then, one of Fray's daughters groaned slightly, opening her eyes. Fray looked around at her, checking her over.

"Are you okay Krystal?" she asked the girl.

"I-I think I'm alright Mum." Krystal replied. Krystal had long brown hair and pale brown eyes. Louise looked a little different, having long black hair and bright green eyes. Both girls, however, had pale skin. Martha created some sandwiches for them, placing the plate on the floor in front of them.

"There you go, considering you're more than likely hungry." She said to them and Fray nodded at her as both mother and daughter took a sandwich each. Looking around, she saw Chrisa in Peter Travis' arms. Peter was Chrisa's boyfriend and she looked happy as she was so Martha left them alone and walked towards her boyfriend and daughter.

"Is she alright?" Dean asked her, motioning to Fray, looking concerned.

"She'll be fine. We just need to let them rest and they should recover quickly." Martha replied, hugging him.

"Alright." He said softly.


	11. Another Comrade

_Chapter 11: Another Comrade_

A couple of days after the group had found Madam Fray, the adults and students in their fifth year and above were walking around, looking for any sign of Voldemort's weakness, when some of his Death Eaters suddenly attacked them, killing three and seriously injuring fifteen more. Suddenly, several spells shot through the trees of the Forbidden Forest, hitting the Death Eaters squarely on the chest, and they keeled over backwards, the expression of surprise still etched into their faces.

"Who was that?" Martha asked.

"No idea, but we'd better go and thank them for help–" Sirius began, just as a snarl from within the Forest was heard, followed by a loud, strangled yell and the sound of bones snapping and clothes tearing. The group ran to where the sound came from, the werewolves in front, ready to transform if needs be. What they saw, however, horrified them all, including Martha. Chrisa ran forward, telling her companions to transform and fight off the attacking werewolves. They all transformed quickly and ran at the four werewolves, biting them and scratching them to fend them off.

Eventually, after a short, but brutal, fight, the four attacking werewolves ran off into the trees and everyone transformed back into their human forms and ran to the strange man's side. He was unconscious, with deep wounds to his throat, chest and stomach. His shirt was torn and bloodstained, and Chrisa, who obviously knew him, was desperately trying to revive him, placing moss from the forest onto his wounds and pressing on them to stop the bleeding. Martha ran forward, Christine behind her, and together, they tore his shirt to get it off him and magically created bandages to wrap around the wounds temporarily. With that done, they created a stretcher and carried him quickly back to their hideout. Once safely inside their base, they lay the unconscious man down in a corner they'd dedicated to looking after injured or sick people. The fifteen other injured people were also laid down there, only about seven still conscious. Fray ran forward and helped to look after their patients. Her eldest daughter, Louise, helped her, using her wand to heal the minor wounds, but Martha insisted on tending to the man's werewolf bites and Fray had no choice but to agree. Eventually, they had him completely bandaged up and the fifteen other injured people lying nearby on their beds.

"By the way Christine, could I please talk to you for a moment?" Martha asked her friend softly. Christine followed her to a deserted corner of the room, where she turned to the confused girl. "Christine, I don't want you to take offence to this, but I've noticed that your stomach…well it's been growing abnormally, and I just want to make sure everything's alright. Is it that you're pregnant, or something?" she asked Christine, who sighed.

"You got it Martha. I am pregnant. And don't worry, my parents know about it, and they understood my falling pregnant. Okay, they weren't happy about it, but they accepted it and gave me the choice whether to raise or abort the baby, and I chose to raise it. Mitchel knows and he agrees whole-heartedly about my decision." Christine replied softly.

"Okay, that's all I wanted to know. I was just concerned because of the abnormal-looking growth of your stomach." Martha said and Christine nodded, smiling at her friend.

"Thank you for your concern Martha, but I'm alright." She said as the girls walked back to join the main group, noticing that the strange man was coming to. Chrisa quickly moved closer to him, looking worried.

"Are you alright, Professor Drekk?" she asked the man softly, the concern growing in her eyes. He looked at her, recognition dawning on his face.

"I'm alright Chrisa. How've you been coping in the past couple of years?" he asked her as relief spread across her face.

"I've been coping." She replied, smiling. However, a sudden shout of happiness startled them all as Krystal and Louise ran over to the man.

"Dad!" they shouted as they leapt into his arms. Everyone, including Chrisa, looked surprised, except the man and Fray, who both looked remarkably calm.

"I'm glad to see you've found us in almost one piece, Derryn." Fray said, walking over to him and kneeling next to him, smiling.

"Wait a sec…you…and him?" Chrisa asked Fray incredulously, her eyes wide. The latter sighed, looking at the girl.

"Yes Chrisa, he is the father of Krystal and Louise. In other words, my husband. I went by my maiden name while I was teaching at Warty Dublin's, but I'm going back to my married name." Fray replied. Drekk looked at her, humour in his eyes.

"I'm surprised you hadn't noticed before now, Chrisa." He laughed, and eventually the surprise wore off everyone and they relaxed.


	12. Chrstine's Baby

_Chapter 12: Christine's Baby_

Almost two weeks later, it was the 4 o'clock on the morning of the 20th of March, and everyone was asleep, Dean next to Martha, his arm resting over her shoulder, when the latter heard a groan from nearby. She sat up straight and looked around, seeing Christine sitting up in her bed, clutching her stomach tightly, an expression of pain etched into her face. Mitchel was also sitting up, his arm around Christine's waist, looking concerned. Martha got out of bed and approached them silently, kneeling next to her friend.

"Martha, you have to help her, she's in labour." Mitchel told her and she nodded, placing one arm around her friend's shoulders.

"Mitchel, help me take her to the Medical Corner." She said and he nodded as together they carried the girl to the Medical Corner, where they lay her down on the bed, Martha drawing the curtains around the bed. "Now, I need you to go and wake Reylene, because I wasn't properly taught how to deliver babies. I'll do my best for now, but you need to get Reylene so she can help." She added to him and he did as he was told and crept out of the curtains and disappeared. Martha sound-proofed the area and reassured her friend that all would be fine. "I just need you to breathe, alright Christine?" she said and Christine nodded; her breaths short and fast. A sudden scream pierced the air as Christine pushed, and the birth began.

About halfway through, Mitchel returned with Fray on his heels and the woman immediately went to Martha, who was still delivering the child.

"You're doing well Martha, keep it up." she said and Martha nodded.

Eventually the baby was born and Martha handed it to the exhausted mother, who smiled upon receiving her child.

"Congratulations Christine, it's a girl." she said and Christine looked briefly at the baby's father, who was looking proud.

"Thank you Martha." Mitchel said, smiling at her.

"You did well Martha. You're a natural. Is your mother a nurse?" Fray asked her and Martha was suddenly hit with the memory of her mother's death and tears sprang into her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"My mother was a nurse, but she was killed one full moon a few months ago. She started teaching me, but never finished before she died. My grandmother continued, but after her husband's death, she took her own life. It's a family tradition for women to be nurses on my mother's side, and I'm going to continue that tradition." Martha said softly, tears spilling down her cheeks as she remembered her mother and her grandparents.

"I'm so sorry Martha. I didn't know." Fray said soothingly, placing her hand on Martha's shoulder.

"Thank you Reylene. I appreciate it." She replied, smiling slightly at Fray.

"That's alright, and you don't need to worry about what anyone else says; just take all the time you need to deal with it, a few months isn't anywhere near enough time to get through the death of your mother. Believe me, I know." She said and Martha nodded.


	13. An Unexpected Saviour

_Chapter 13: An Unexpected Saviour_

It was two months after Christine had given birth to her daughter, which she'd named Angel, and the over-fifteens were once again out in the grounds, searching for Voldemort's weakness, and were once again attacked by Death Eaters, but what surprised everyone most of all was who'd come to their rescue.

Seventeen people were killed this time, including Paige's cousin, Jack Lupin.

The Reductor curse that came from a Death Eater's wand hit Jack squarely on the chest, instantly blowing it apart. Blood spattered everywhere as the seventeen year old fell to the ground, not breathing and the life leaving his eyes rapidly.

"JACK!" Paige screamed, flinging herself at her cousin's body. "Jack, no. You can't be, please not be dead!" she yelled, tears spilling rapidly down her cheeks as she knelt next to the corpse. A killing curse flew over her head and hit another student in the chest, killing her. Martha ran to her side, grabbing her shoulder, but she refused to budge. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man ran into the fray. This man had short light brown hair and green-grey eyes. He was instantly recognisable as Remus Lupin, Paige's father. He ran to his grieving daughter and held her, thanking Martha softly for attempting to calm her. Gently he pulled Paige away from the bloody corpse, but she struggled hard against his grip. Still, he didn't relax and eventually she gave up, hugging her father tightly, sobbing into his chest. Martha looked on, recognising this as what had happened when Natalie had been killed. Except that it wasn't Paige's mother that had died; instead, it was her cousin. Around Paige and Remus, spells were flying, missing them by inches, people were falling to the ground, either dead or injured, and all the Hogwartians were all forced into a tight knot, Death Eaters surrounding them, when a man with elbow-length silver-blonde hair and pale skin appeared between the Hogwartians and Death Eaters, pointing his wand at the latter, which all looked surprised. This man was Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy.

"Lucius, what are you doing!?" one of the Death Eaters asked him incredulously.

"Preventing you from killing my son and his friends." Malfoy replied simply. Martha looked highly surprised at this and saw to her right that Draco's jaw had dropped with shock. Everyone was surprised at this, but no one said anything.

"Stand aside, Lucius; you have no place over there. The Dark Lord will kill you if he realises what you have done." The Death Eater said impatiently, but Malfoy stood his ground.

"No, I won't stand aside from my son." He said and Draco ran forward to stand next to his father. He whispered something to him that none of the others could hear, and Malfoy smiled and nodded.

"Dad, what do you think is going on?" Martha asked her father softly, but he shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no idea Martha; I really don't know." He replied as they pointed their wands at the surrounding Death Eaters. Everyone else followed suit, including Paige, who seemed to have a fiery determination in her eyes to avenge her cousin.

After a short, brutal battle, in which several more people died, the five remaining Death Eaters fled, leaving their twenty-five dead companions. Once the Death Eaters were gone, everyone turned to Malfoy.

"Gee Lucius, you told me twenty years ago that the 'Dark Lord ruled all', and yet you defy him and help us." Severus said to Malfoy, who grinned as though he were a young boy who had just been caught doing something wrong. "What was your reasoning?"

"I guess I don't know for sure, but my sons were one major part of it. I guess because I'm sick of doing Voldemort's bidding all the time, and having no time for myself." Malfoy replied and Severus laughed.

"I understand your sons being a major part of it; my daughters are a major part of my life too. I couldn't sit back and watch them die, either." He agreed.

Eventually, everyone grew to trust Lucius Malfoy and he joined them in their fight against the Dark Lord.

Back in their base, just off the Ravenclaw common room, Lucius sat with them around the large table in the centre of the room, talking to them about Voldemort and his weaknesses.

"Voldemort can't be killed unless all of his Horcruxes have been destroyed. I know there's one that he keeps near him at all times, and that's his snake Nagini. You all have to be careful around there as well, as he has eyes everywhere. You've done well if he hasn't discovered this area, but you all still need to be on guard at all times." He told them.

"Wait, but what's happening with the younger people? Do they stay here while the adults and older students are out, because I noticed that very few of you were actually out there fighting." Remus asked them.

"Anyone below fifteen stays here while the rest of us are out, so their role at the moment is to stay here and figure out ways to get closer to Voldemort." Sirius explained.

"Okay, that's actually a good idea, to be completely honest to you." Remus said, as Lucius nodded his approval.

"Dad, do you know any ways that we can get really close to Voldemort? We will need to help Harry Potter and his friends, however many people we may lose in the meantime. And as many of us dislike him, Martha." Draco said to his father and Martha looked at him.

"Draco, we all know you hate him just as much as I do, so you can't go saying that about me." Martha replied.

"You know you two are bickering like a married couple. Is there something between you that we don't know about?" Dean asked them and Martha rolled her eyes at her boyfriend.

"Don't worry Dean, there isn't anything. I was just disagreeing with him." She reassured him, just as Adelyne started crying and she sighed, walking to her daughter and picking her up.


	14. The Battle for Hogwarts

_Chapter 14: The Battle for Hogwarts_

A week later, everyone had moved into the rest of the school, the younger students being evacuated to their homes, however, Remus and Minerva both had a very difficult time convincing Paige to go home as well. She was flatly refusing, standing with her friends, who were torn between having her with them and sending her home.

"Paige, it's better for you and your daughter if you go home. That way, you can avoid getting yourself or your daughter hurt." Martha said matter-of-factly to her, but she shook her head firmly.

"No! I'm not leaving you all here to die! I just can't do it." She said, tears beginning to spill out of her eyes and everyone sighed. Paige's tears had softened them all, none of them wanted to see her upset, but at the same time, they didn't want to see her hurt or killed. "I'm not going home! Ebony will have to, but I'm not going!" she said.

"Fine, but where is Ebony going to go, considering she can't stay home alone." Remus said, looking at his granddaughter, a concerned expression in his eyes.

"Remus! We're not meant to be risking our daughter's life!" Minerva told him in shock, but Remus turned to face her.

"Minerva, I'm not risking our daughter's life, but we can't force her to do anything." He said calmly.

"Remus, if it means preserving her life –" she began, but Paige interrupted.

"Mum, Dad's right. And I do know defensive spells if necessary. I also know how best to hide. Remember, I am a werewolf. For once, I'm actually pleased that I got that from Dad." She said to her mother, who sighed, finally giving in.

"Actually, Ebony can go to my place; my father's looking after my son, and Ebony, Adelyne and Angel can go there, along with Melissa, Catherine and Jessica." Christina said and Paige, Martha and Christine nodded their approval.

"Alright, but considering most of you are below seventeen, I want you all to be extremely careful." Minerva said.

"Alright." Martha said as Remus took the babies to Christina's house.

About half an hour later, Remus reappeared and together, they went to the Great Hall and awaited Voldemort's reappearance. Shortly afterwards, Severus reappeared in the Hall, panting slightly from his faked fleeing the school.

"Are you all alright?" he asked everyone in the Hall, who nodded. "That's good to hear. Okay, now many have we got?" he asked, looking around, and, seeing his daughter, looked shocked. "Dora, what are you still doing here?"

"Dad, I'm fighting. No matter what you say, I'm fighting. Catherine's gone to Christina's place where her father's looking after her, but I'm staying here." She said to him and he sighed.

"Alright, but just be careful, for heaven's sake." He said and she nodded her head firmly.

"I will Dad don't worry." She said and he nodded, sighing.

"By the way, why is Drake still here? Shouldn't he have been sent home as well?" Severus asked Lucius, who shook his head.

"He's not fighting, but he has to stay at Hogwarts, because there's no one at home to look after him." He replied and Severus nodded understandingly.

"Alright. We'd better be quick; Voldemort's nearly broken through the protections the teachers have put up." Severus told them all and they nodded, taking a deep breath and drawing their wands.

Without warning, the Great Hall doors were blown to pieces and in the doorway stood Voldemort.

"I knew you were helping them, Malfoy!" he shrieked at Lucius, who stood his ground. "I was right not to trust you!"

"Shut up Voldemort! You're nothing but a coward of a half-blood!" Lucius shouted back at him and he pointed his wand at the centre of his chest. Lucius blocked the killing curse easily and pointed his own wand at the Dark Lord. "However, you taught me well. You trusted me enough to tell me exactly what I needed to know to defeat you! Thank you."

"I should've known you were a double-agent!" Voldemort shrieked at him, shooting another killing curse at him, which he dodged effortlessly.

"You're just not quick enough to defeat me! Keep trying; you'll only fail!" Lucius taunted him, at great risk to his life. That was when Martha noticed that Voldemort had a baby in his left arm, using his right to fire spells at Lucius. Christina seemed to notice, too, and let out a scream, her eyes on the bundle in Voldemort's arms. Voldemort looked at her and grinned.

"Thank you Christina for giving me my son, now you can die!" he shouted at her, shooting a killing curse at her, but Seamus leapt in front and used his shielding charm to deflect the curse. He crumpled to the ground as the curse shattered the shield and hit him. Martha immediately darted over to his still form and checked his pulse, sighing with relief when she found one. He slowly opened his eyes.

"The curse lost its effect when it hit my shield, but not its strength. I'll be fine, but I need you to get Julius from him, please. Julius is like a son to me." He whispered and Martha nodded, standing up and running to Voldemort, transforming into a werewolf as she did. As a werewolf, she scratched his face, across both his eyes, his snake-like nose and his mouth, forcing him to drop the baby, which she picked up gently in her mouth and carried to Christina, who took him thankfully.

"Thank you Martha. I owe you so much." She whispered, hugging her son. Martha inclined her werewolfish head, before running back at Voldemort, who'd disregarded the deep rakes to his face and pointed his wand at her.

"You will die for attacking me like that!" he shrieked, but Sirius, in his dog form ran forward and bit Voldemort's groin. The Dark Lord yelled in pain, and hit Sirius on the head. Sirius whimpered and let go, his tail between his legs as he ran back to the main group. As Voldemort was concentrating on getting rid of the pain in his groin, he didn't notice Severus, Lucius and Remus run up to him and use their wands to hit him with three separate curses, which caused him to disapparate, dragging Severus with him. Dora immediately transformed into her animagi form, which was that of a feral cat, and Martha immediately transformed into her animagi form, which was that of a large black dog like her father's, and both girls ran to where their instincts were telling them the two men were. Without worrying about the huge battle happening around them, the girls sprinted out of the school and into the grounds, where they heard yells and they immediately followed them through the tunnel under the Whomping Willow and into the Shrieking Shack. Running into the main room, they passed Harry Potter and his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who looked around, surprised at the sudden wind that passed them. The two girls stopped in a shadowy corner and watched with baited breath. Voldemort was speaking.

"…it cannot be any other way," he said. "I must master the wand Severus, master the wand and I master Potter at last."

And with that, he made a slashing movement with his wand, which did nothing to Severus, who seemed to thing he had been reprieved, but then noticed the magical cage which held his snake Nagini, rolling through the air towards him. Before Severus could do anything more than yell, it had encased him, head and shoulders, and Voldemort spoke in Parseltongue.

There was a horrifying scream as Severus' face lost colour rapidly and his eyes widened as the snake's fangs pierced his neck, as he failed to push it off him.

"I regret it." Voldemort's voice was cold, without remorse or sadness or regret as he turned away. Dora was in tears as she watched Voldemort walk away with Nagini's magical cage following.

Severus collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from the wound and Martha and Dora were immediately by his side Martha trying, but failing to heal the wound. Just then, Harry ran in and knelt by Severus, who spoke to him

"Take…it…Take…it…" he struggled to say and Martha noticed what he meant. Blood wasn't the only thing leaking from him. A silvery blue substance, neither gas nor liquid, gushed from his mouth, eyes and ears. Martha did not know what it was, but Harry seemed to as he took it in a flask conjured from mid-air by Hermione. Severus' grip on Harry's robes slackened as he struggled to speak again.

"Look…at…me…" he whispered and for a moment their eyes met before Severus fell limp and the hand clutching Harry's robes thudded to the floor.

Harry left the shack shortly after Voldemort made another announcement and Martha and Dora ran to Severus' body, Dora sobbing uncontrollably.


	15. The Boy Who Lived Dies

_Chapter 15: The Boy who Lived Dies_

Martha and Dora remained kneeling by Severus' corpse for another ten minutes, Martha hugging Dora to comfort her, before Sirius came running into the Shack in his dog form and took one look at Severus, before slowly approaching Dora, transforming back and placing his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry about your loss Dora. How about you stay at my…well, Christina's place with us? Your parents had appointed Lannastar's parents your godparents when you were born, but since her parents are no longer alive, I'd be willing to take you in as my own daughter. You don't have to agree, but it's up to you." He said softly to her and she looked up at him, suddenly hugging him. Surprised and uncomfortable, he patted her back gently to calm her.

"Thank you…Dad." She whispered and he smiled.

"Come on, we'd better get back up to the school. Paige needs you quite badly at the moment." He said to both girls, who looked surprised.

"Why Dad?" Martha asked her father, concerned for her friend.

"Her father was killed in the most recent battle and she's not taking it very well." Sirius replied, tears in his eyes, and all three of them transformed into their animagi forms and sprinted back up to the school, Martha and Dora following Sirius into the Great Hall where the dead lay side-by-side in the middle of the room. They saw Paige, kneeling by the corpse of her father, her head in her hands, Troy and Minerva next to her, hugging her. Martha and Dora ran to their friend, transforming back and kneeling next to her, each with a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Paige." Martha said and Paige looked up, smiling slightly at her.

"Thank you Martha." She whispered, as Troy placed his arm around Paige's shoulders in a very fatherly manner. Just then, Martha heard a moan from behind her. Looking around, she saw Dean lying with the injured, his whole right arm missing, the stump bandaged heavily. She ran over to him, holding his left hand in her right.

"Are you okay Dean?" she asked him softly.

"I – I think I'll be alright, but they got my arm. Are you alright?" he asked her and she sighed, tears in her eyes as she looked at his arm.

"I'm fine. Severus is dead, though, and Lucius kidnapped. Voldemort wants Harry to find him in the Forbidden Forest, where he'll kill him." Martha replied. "And as much as I hate Harry, I don't want him to die, because that means that Voldemort will take over the whole wizarding world. We can't risk that happening. We need to help him. I overheard him saying to someone to kill Voldemort's snake, because that means that he'll be much easier to kill. I think it has something to do with the Horcruxes he was looking for last year. But I really need you to stay here." She told him, but he shook his head, sitting up.

"I can't sit back and watch you get killed. Let Harry do what he has to, but don't get in the way; don't go near them." He said to her.

"Dean, listen to me. That snake, along with Voldemort, has to be killed! If they're not killed, he'll take over the world, and we can't let that happen!" she told him firmly, kissing him deeply, before standing up. "Are you coming, Snuffles?" she called and her pet Labrador, which she still took to school with her, as well as the large, scruffy black dog, that was her father, came running up to her. Together, they ran to the Forest, where Martha transformed into her dog form, the same as that of her father, and the three dogs went quickly through the forest, following Voldemort's scent. Eventually, the Dark Lord's scent led them to a small clearing in the trees, where Lucius sat opposite them, looking defeated, and next to him, was his wife, Narcissa Malfoy. The three dogs darted around the clearing, hiding in the trees, stopping behind Lucius. Martha transformed back and crouched behind the defeated man.

"Psst…Lucius, it's me, Martha." She whispered to him and he looked around slowly and cautiously.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered to her, looking concerned. "If you're seen, you'll be killed."

"I know, but I have to risk it. If I don't risk it, Voldemort will never be defeated. Harry will have his hands full trying to keep himself alive and trying to kill the snake at the same time." She whispered and he sighed.

"Fine, but keep yourself hidden." He said. "By the way, is Draco alright? Have you seen him?" he asked her, looking worried for his eldest son.

"Drake got himself injured, but he'll live, but I can't honestly tell you that I know whether Draco's alright. He's not among the dead or the injured, and I haven't seen him anywhere else." She whispered and tears entered his eyes as he sighed.

"Thank you for letting me know." He whispered in reply as he turned back to face Voldemort and his Death Eaters again. Two of the Death Eaters had just returned.

"No sign of him, my Lord," one of the Death Eaters said.

Voldemort's expression did not change. Slowly he drew his wand between his long fingers.

"My Lord –"

The person who had spoken was Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius' cousin. She looked dishevelled, her face a little bloody, but otherwise alright, and Martha felt Sirius squirm next to her. Looking around, she saw he was in his human form again and was looking furiously at his cousin.

Voldemort raised a hand to silence her. She fell silent, looking at him with worshipful fascination.

"I thought he would come," Voldemort said, his eyes on the leaping flames in the middle of the clearing. "I expected him to come."

Nobody spoke. They seemed terrified, and Martha couldn't blame them. Her heart was racing as she watched Voldemort, wondering what he would do.

"I was, it seems…mistaken." He said.

"You weren't." came a firm voice as Harry stepped out from behind the trees. The giants roared and the Death Eaters rose at once; there were many cries, gasps, even laughter. Narcissa and Lucius, however, remained seated and silent. Voldemort had frozen where he stood, but his evil, red eyes had found Harry as the latter moved forward so that the only thing between them was the fire.

Then a voice yelled –

"HARRY! NO!" and Harry turned. Martha did the same and saw that Hagrid, the school gamekeeper, was bound and trussed, tied to a nearby tree. "NO! NO! HARRY, WHAT'RE YEH –?"

"QUIET!" shouted a blonde Death Eater, and with a flick of his wand Hagrid was silenced.

The only things that remained moving were the fire and the snake in its magical cage behind Voldemort's head. Martha had whispered to Sirius to stay where he was, as he was looking at the snake, his right hand slowly moving to the wand that was in his pocket. She looked now at Harry, hoping he wouldn't be killed. If he was killed, Voldemort would take over…she had to stop it somehow.

"Harry, don't…" she mouthed to him, hoping he saw her and changed his mind.

Unfortunately he hadn't seen her; his eyes remained fixed on Voldemort.

"Harry Potter," Voldemort said very softly, twirling his wand between his very long fingers. "The boy who lived."

No one moved; everything was waiting. Voldemort had raised his wand; his head tilted to one side like a curious child, wondering what would happen if he proceeded.

Martha turned her head, buried her face in her father's shoulder, knowing what was going to happen next. But that didn't block out the flash of green light, and she knew Harry Potter, the only one who would be able to stop Voldemort, was dead. Snuffles was whimpering quietly and Sirius, his left arm around Martha's shoulders, patted the Labrador with his right, all the while remaining completely silent.


	16. Freedom

_Chapter 16: Freedom!_

When Martha looked up from her father's shoulder, she saw Voldemort looking triumphant and he told Narcissa to check over Harry and make sure he was dead. Narcissa did as she was told and bent over Harry, her long silver-blonde hair shielding him from view. Eventually she stood up.

"He is dead." She said and there was a cheer from the Death Eaters and Martha sighed in defeat. Voldemort would take over the world now, and there was nothing or no one that would stand in his way. She and Sirius would join Natalie in the grave any minute now…

"Martha, don't give up hope." A hurried whisper distracted her and she looked around to see Lucius looking at her. "Narcissa just told me that Harry is alive. He's just playing dead. You need to stay strong. If you do that, we'll eventually beat him." He whispered to her.

"But isn't she working for Voldemort?" she asked him in a whisper.

"Not any more. She's looking for a chance to betray him without endangering her life or Draco and Drake's lives." He replied, also in a whisper. Martha looked at Narcissa, who was now sitting next to Lucius again.

"Thank you." She whispered to her so she could hear.

"Its not a problem, but you need to be careful. Kill his snake and let Potter finish him off." Narcissa replied in a whisper.

"But the snake has the protective shield around it. And Voldemort's keeping it with him at all times. How do I get close to the snake without endangering my life?" she asked this question to both Malfoys.

"It's not going to be easy, but it can be done. We'll distract him so you can get to it. But we need to wait until Voldemort lowers the shield on the snake, making it vulnerable." Lucius whispered.

"Lucius is right. But until then, lie low." Narcissa agreed and Martha nodded as the Malfoys turned around again.

"You see?" Voldemort screeched over the cheers and shouts of glee. "Harry Potter is dead by my hand, and no man alive can threaten me now! Watch! Crucio!"

Harry was lifted into the air and flipped once, twice, three times through the air, causing his glasses to come off. When his body was slammed to the ground again, there were jeers and shrieks of laughter by the Death Eaters. Sirius was looking concerned for him, and Martha gave him a look to reassure him that Harry would be fine; that he would finish Voldemort off when they got back to the castle. He nodded and transformed back into his large black dog form.

"Now," Voldemort said and Martha looked up, holding her breath. "We go to the castle, and show them what has become of their hero. Who shall drag the body? No – Wait –"

Martha saw him release Hagrid, who was sobbing uncontrollably for Harry, and Martha briefly felt sorry for him, but did not dare to let him know that Harry was still alive, for fear of giving away her position and getting herself, her father and her dog killed. So she stayed silent. There were fresh jeers and laughter as Hagrid approached Harry's lifeless form.

"You carry him," Voldemort said. "He will be nice and visible in your arms, will he not? Pick up your little friend, Hagrid. And the glasses – put on the glasses – he must be recognisable."

A Death Eater slammed the glasses onto Harry's face with deliberate force, but Hagrid picked him up exceedingly gently.

"Move." Voldemort commanded Hagrid, and the half-giant stumbled forward.

The procession went thundering through the forest, two giants behind the Death Eaters and the three dogs running along after them, staying hidden in the trees.

"Stop." Voldemort said, his wand on Hagrid, who stopped suddenly. The three dogs darted round the group of Death Eaters and Voldemort, running back to the safety of the school. Once back inside the castle, Martha transformed back to her human self and sprinted into the Great Hall, up to her boyfriend, who looked relieved upon her return. Suddenly, Voldemort's magically magnified voice sounded throughout the castle.

"Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone. The battle is won. You have lost half your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle, now, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live, and be forgiven, and you shall join me in the new world we will build together."

There was silence throughout the castle and the grounds, as everyone slowly moved towards the oak front doors to get a better look.

"NO!" Minerva screamed as she stopped in the doorway, looking at Harry still lying limp in Hagrid's arms. Voldemort was standing slightly in front of Hagrid, his snake coiled around his shoulders, now free of its magical cage, while the Dark Lord stroked its scaly head with one white finger.

"No!"

"_No_!"

"Harry! HARRY!"

Martha heard Harry's friends, Ron and Hermione, and Ginny's voices and really began to feel sorry for them. Their cries began to act like a trigger and all the survivors began shouting abuse at Voldemort and the Death Eaters until –

"SILENCE!" Voldemort cried and a bang sounded as silence was forced upon everyone. "It is over! Set him down, Hagrid, at my feet, where he belongs!"

Hagrid did as he was told and slowly, but gently, lowered Harry onto the grass.

"You see?" Voldemort said to the crowd, striding backwards and forwards next to Harry's still, limp form. "Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!"

"He beat you!" Ron yelled and the charm broke as everyone began shouting and screaming abuse at Voldemort again, until a second, more powerful charm replaced the first one, as a fresh wave of silence broke over them all.

"He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds," Voldemort told them, but Martha shook her head, because she knew that he was lying. "Killed while trying to save himself –"

Voldemort stopped short because Neville Longbottom had run forward but Voldemort stopped him easily, and Neville gave a shout of pain as he hit the floor, Disarmed, and Voldemort threw his wand aside and laughed.

"And who is this?" he said in his soft snake's hiss. "Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?"

Bellatrix laughed and Martha felt hate for both Bellatrix and Voldemort boil over in her chest.

"It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord! The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?"

"Ah yes, I remember," Voldemort said, looking down at Neville, who was struggling to his feet. "But you are a pure-blood, aren't you, my brave boy?"

"So what if I am?" Neville shouted at the Dark Lord, which had no effect at all.

"You show spirit, and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We need you kind, Neville Longbottom."

"I'll join you when Hell freezes over!" Neville spat. "Dumbledore's Army!" he shouted and there was an answering roar from the crowd of survivors.

"Very well," Voldemort said softly and dangerously. "If that is your choice, Longbottom, we revert back to the original plan." What he said next, Martha couldn't hear, nor could the rest of the Hogwartian survivors.

Voldemort waved his wand and seconds later, through one of the castle's shattered windows, a misshapen object flew through the air towards him and landed in his hand. He shook it out from the pointed end and it soon became clear that it was the Sorting Hat.

"There will be no more sorting at Hogwarts School," he told them. "There will be no more houses. The emblem, shield and colours of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone, won't they, Neville Longbottom?"

He waved his wand at Neville, who grew rigid and still, and forced the hat on his head so that it slipped down below his eyes. Several people tried to move forward, but as one, the Death Eaters all raised their wands and pointed them at them, except Narcissa and Lucius, who were both missing from the line of Death Eaters. Martha looked around for them and saw them right at the back of the crowd and she moved through the crowd to join them.

"I have a feeling that there'll be another fight. I suggest neither of you bother to fight, on either team. I'm not sure where Draco is, I'm sorry, but I'm sure he's alright. But I think that if you go look for him, you'll eventually find him. Knowing Lannastar, she'll probably join you in looking as well, considering she is in love with him." She told them and they nodded, glancing once at each other, worried expressions on both their faces.

"What about Drake? Is he alright?" Lucius asked her softly.

"He's fine. He's among the crowd somewhere, and I'm sure that he'll know what to do, regardless if he's told or not. But I will do my best to –" she began, just as Neville screamed and Martha looked around and saw that he was aflame. The poor boy was rooted to the spot, unable to move, when several things happened at once. There was a roar from unknown people who seemed to be running from the Hogwarts walls and the Death Eaters were rained down upon with arrows.

"HAGGER!" roared Grawp, Hagrid's giant half-brother. In response, Voldemort's two giants roared and ran at him. In all this confusion, Neville, free of the body-bind curse, threw the burning hat off his head and drew a long glittering sword with rubies glittering in its handle from its depths, and sliced off the snake's head with one clean sweep. The head flew high in the air, as Voldemort's mouth was open in a scream of fury none of them could hear as the snake's body thudded to the ground at his feet. Then came Hagrid's shout,

"HARRY!" he shouted. "HARRY – WHERE'S HARRY?"

Chaos reigned supreme at Hogwarts at this point. The charging centaurs were scattering Death Eaters, everyone was fleeing the giants' feet, and nearer and nearer came the reinforcements from who knew where. Just then, a hand gripped Martha's shoulder tightly and she spun around and saw a tall woman with long black hair that was tied back in a ponytail and blue eyes.

"Jack – where is Jack? Have you seen my son?" she asked Martha urgently and Martha then realised who this woman was. She was Minerva's younger sister, Amanda. She'd married Remus' brother Larry, who'd joined the Dark Lord.

"I'm sorry Amanda, I assumed you knew. Jack was unfortunately killed when we were out looking for Voldemort's weakness. I'm sorry to have to let you know." Martha said to her and the woman burst into tears, her head in her hands as Martha placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you…for letting me…know…" she choked, falling to her knees.

"I'm sorry to have to let you know like this. But I suggest you come with me before we're trampled by the stampede." She said, looking up and seeing everyone – Hogwartian and Death Eater alike – coming into the school to escape the giants. Amanda nodded and stood up as Martha led the distraught woman up two flights of stairs and into the Hospital Wing, where they were met by Fray.

"What's wrong Martha?" Fray asked her, looking up from tending to the injured Hogwartians.

"This is Jack's mother. She only just found out about the unfortunate fate that befell her son, and will need some time alone where she can get her head around what happened." Martha replied and Fray nodded understandingly.

"Alright. You do what you have to do, Martha." She said and Martha nodded, leading Amanda to a quiet corner and sitting her down.

"I'll be right back. I'll just get you a glass of water, alright?" she said to the woman, who nodded, gulping as tears ran non-stop down her cheeks. Martha sighed, walking to the small shelf on which was a jug of water and several cups. She took a cup, filled it up with water from the jug and carried it back to Amanda, who took it thankfully. Fray walked over, looking sorrowfully at Amanda.

"I'm so sorry about your loss Amanda." She said softly to the upset woman.

"Thank you both. I appreciate your help." Amanda replied, tears still spilling from her eyes. "I'd better go now; I need to let my eldest son and my daughter know."

"Okay, I understand. Sorry again about Jack." Martha said softly as Amanda stood up and Martha led her out of the hospital wing and down the stairs into the Entrance Hall. "Look after yourself." She told Amanda, who nodded, before leaving the school. Martha ran into the Great Hall, and noticed that Voldemort and Harry were circling each other, taunting the other. She ran to Dean, who was watching them. Suddenly, Voldemort shot the killing curse and Harry the Disarming Charm at the same time and the spells met in mid-air and Voldemort's wand flew high in the air like his snake's head while its owner fell spread-eagled to the ground, the life leaving the red, snake-like eyes.

Everyone cheered as Dean hugged Martha so tight with happiness that she couldn't breathe.

"Dean, calm down. I can't breathe." She gasped, pushing him away.

"Sorry, I just can't believe that he's finally dead and we don't have to deal with any more fear caused by him." Dean apologised and she laughed as she hugged him, just tight enough that both could still breathe. Suddenly, however, Sirius nipped Martha's leg to get her attention.

"What's wrong Dad?" she whispered to him, kneeling down and stroking his head. He indicated Paige kneeling in the distance, her back looking oddly hunched. She ran over to her friend and saw why she was looking so hunched: Minerva was lying dead in the corner while Troy, with tears running down his cheeks, hugged Paige. Martha knelt next to her friend, placing her hand on her shoulder. Paige looked up and suddenly hugged her. Remembering when their old friend, Adelyne Marlo, had died the previous year, just before school had started, when Lannastar had done just what Paige did, she hugged her in return, sighing.

Shortly afterwards, everyone boarded the Hogwarts Express back to Kings Cross Station and Paige sat silently in their compartment. No one bothered her, as they all knew that she was mourning the loss of both of her parents. Her boyfriend, Adrian, was in the compartment, too, hugging her to comfort her.

Arriving back at Kings Cross, everyone got off the train to meet relieved relatives all swarming to see their sons, daughters, sisters and brothers. Martha, Dean, Dora and Lannastar followed Christina and Julian to where Julius stood, looking relieved as he handed the young children that he was looking after to their respective parents.

"Are you all okay?" he asked them as they left the station with a final farewell to the rest of the Maraudesses for the summer.

"We're fine. Unfortunately, Paige lost both her parents and her cousin, Martha lost her mother and Dora lost her father, but otherwise we're alright." Christina replied, her hand on Dora's shoulder to comfort her.

"I'm sorry to hear that girls, but unless I'm severely mistaken, Lord Voldemort's finally dead, isn't he?" Julius said and everyone nodded.

"Yes, thankfully." Julian replied to his father as Sirius transformed into his human form and both men took the children and teenagers on side-along apparition back to the Wilson household. All would be alright once again.

_**THE END!!!!**_


End file.
